We have experienced the first big storm of the trip, “Storm Miguel”. Thankfully it was well forecast and we were safely in Pornic marina for the storm. Unfortunately, we were reminded of the seas force and the need to respect its power. A lifeboat had launched from Les Sables-d’Olonne (some 40 miles south of Pornic) to rescue a fisherman who had gone out to sea in spite of the storm. The lifeboat capsized and three of the crew lost their lives, the fisherman is still missing although a body was recovered from the sea on the 16th June and is still to be identified. This impacted the whole community on… Read More
Continue ReadingExploring South Brittany
In our last update, we were about to sail from North Brittany to South Brittany This meant sailing through the Chenal Du Four and The Raz de Sein. Both of these have a reputation for causing trouble for sailors if the weather turns or are you are there at the wrong time. The currents can be strong and if the wind is against the tide, steep waves can be found. Reading the pilot guides timing is important and arriving when currents are going in your favour for the Chenal Du Four and at slack water for The Raz was mandatory. This meant we had a couple of early starts leaving… Read More
Continue ReadingFour Weeks and a lot of learning
It is 4 weeks since we left Poole on Easter Monday, In our last blog we told you that we intended to leave Guernsey to sail to Jersey. We had a good sail across to Jersey on a warm Sunday afternoon (having visited Holy Trinity Church St Peter Port for their morning service first.) As we made the crossing we listened to Radio 2 and Sounds of the Seventies. BBC stations are broadcast from the Channel Islands. It was a bit odd listening to Sally Traffic and her reports on congestion on the M62 whilst sailing in an empty sea. We had intended to stay in Jersey at least 4… Read More
Continue Reading